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| Delhi gang-rape case: the court met in secret but all of India was watching | Delhi gang-rape case: the court met in secret but all of India was watching |
| (3 months later) | |
| At about 2pm there was a sudden moment of relative quiet in courtroom 207. The angry exchanges stopped. No one moved except the two dozen policemen, in khaki coats, who shoved the lawyers, the journalists and the simply curious aside. "They are coming," a barrister muttered. | At about 2pm there was a sudden moment of relative quiet in courtroom 207. The angry exchanges stopped. No one moved except the two dozen policemen, in khaki coats, who shoved the lawyers, the journalists and the simply curious aside. "They are coming," a barrister muttered. |
| There was no need to ask who "they" were. There has been no need through the three weeks since the rape of a 23-year-old medical student in south Delhi, on 16 December. To say that this vast, seething city of 17 million has talked of no one else and nothing else would be an exaggeration. | There was no need to ask who "they" were. There has been no need through the three weeks since the rape of a 23-year-old medical student in south Delhi, on 16 December. To say that this vast, seething city of 17 million has talked of no one else and nothing else would be an exaggeration. |
| But there was little sense that anyone was ready to move on. News channels continue to devote hours to issues that received minutes of airtime a month ago; front pages still carry every twist in the investigation; and conversations naturally turn to the woman whose ashes were scattered on the Ganges last week, and to what should be done to the six men who are accused of raping her repeatedly on a moving bus before dumping her on a roadside. | But there was little sense that anyone was ready to move on. News channels continue to devote hours to issues that received minutes of airtime a month ago; front pages still carry every twist in the investigation; and conversations naturally turn to the woman whose ashes were scattered on the Ganges last week, and to what should be done to the six men who are accused of raping her repeatedly on a moving bus before dumping her on a roadside. |
| Five of the men – a sixth, a juvenile, is being held separately – had been brought from the high-security Tihar prison in the mid-morning. This was a pre-trial hearing at which they would be presented with the multiple charges against them: rape, abduction, banditry, murder and others. The case would be sent on to a higher court by the metropolitan magistrate Namita Aggarwal. If they are convicted a death penalty seems a certainty. | Five of the men – a sixth, a juvenile, is being held separately – had been brought from the high-security Tihar prison in the mid-morning. This was a pre-trial hearing at which they would be presented with the multiple charges against them: rape, abduction, banditry, murder and others. The case would be sent on to a higher court by the metropolitan magistrate Namita Aggarwal. If they are convicted a death penalty seems a certainty. |
| "It should be a straightforward thing," said SK Singh, a supreme court advocate at the hearing, who said he represented the family of the victim. | "It should be a straightforward thing," said SK Singh, a supreme court advocate at the hearing, who said he represented the family of the victim. |
| By noon the accused were yet to appear. They waited in a cell beneath six floors of land disputes, rent rows, robberies, frauds and traffic offences. In their absence Aggarwal presided over a 20-minute shouting match sparked by the offer of one advocate to defend them. "I know the whole country thinks they are guilty and the evidence is against them … but their families have contacted me," he said. | By noon the accused were yet to appear. They waited in a cell beneath six floors of land disputes, rent rows, robberies, frauds and traffic offences. In their absence Aggarwal presided over a 20-minute shouting match sparked by the offer of one advocate to defend them. "I know the whole country thinks they are guilty and the evidence is against them … but their families have contacted me," he said. |
| Local lawyers, who voted to refuse to represent the alleged rapists, hurled themselves across the room, shouting abuse. "This is a very, very heinous crime and we are human beings living in society," explained Rajpal Kasana, of the Saket Bar Association. The court will have to appoint a lawyer for the men over the coming days. | Local lawyers, who voted to refuse to represent the alleged rapists, hurled themselves across the room, shouting abuse. "This is a very, very heinous crime and we are human beings living in society," explained Rajpal Kasana, of the Saket Bar Association. The court will have to appoint a lawyer for the men over the coming days. |
| In the middle of the fracas, unperturbed, a self-proclaimed holy man in a bright saffron woolly hat waved a legal petition. The magistrate stalked out. | In the middle of the fracas, unperturbed, a self-proclaimed holy man in a bright saffron woolly hat waved a legal petition. The magistrate stalked out. |
| Then came the rumour that "they" were coming. But they weren't. The police pushed and shoved, to no avail. The scrum in court was a risk to the prisoners' safety, officials said. Further proceedings were to be in camera; the court was to be cleared, Aggarwal ordered. And it was. | Then came the rumour that "they" were coming. But they weren't. The police pushed and shoved, to no avail. The scrum in court was a risk to the prisoners' safety, officials said. Further proceedings were to be in camera; the court was to be cleared, Aggarwal ordered. And it was. |
| By 4pm the accused had been led in, heads covered by scarves and hoods, to be served with the charge sheets, before being sent back to Tihar. The journalists and the lawyers dispersed. Some headed across the road to the mall, walking under a new hoarding calling on Indian men to "respect the female". The next hearing will be on Thursday. | By 4pm the accused had been led in, heads covered by scarves and hoods, to be served with the charge sheets, before being sent back to Tihar. The journalists and the lawyers dispersed. Some headed across the road to the mall, walking under a new hoarding calling on Indian men to "respect the female". The next hearing will be on Thursday. |
| Singh said as he left court: "Natural justice will have to be followed in this case. The Indian constitution guarantees equality before the law. They [the accused] have to be properly defended. Otherwise how can it be a fair trial?" | Singh said as he left court: "Natural justice will have to be followed in this case. The Indian constitution guarantees equality before the law. They [the accused] have to be properly defended. Otherwise how can it be a fair trial?" |
| Within an hour, as throughout the weeks since the rape, the developments were being dissected by demonstrators, legal experts, TV pundits and in a hundred million living rooms and offices. The pressure on authorities – from an angry public that has little faith in either elected leaders or the notoriously slow and inefficient Indian judicial system – to punish those responsible for the attack is immense. Indian courts pass many death sentences, although actual executions are very rare. | Within an hour, as throughout the weeks since the rape, the developments were being dissected by demonstrators, legal experts, TV pundits and in a hundred million living rooms and offices. The pressure on authorities – from an angry public that has little faith in either elected leaders or the notoriously slow and inefficient Indian judicial system – to punish those responsible for the attack is immense. Indian courts pass many death sentences, although actual executions are very rare. |
| Politicians have repeatedly floundered in their response to the crisis and cannot afford to find themselves on the wrong side of public opinion. One swiftly enacted measure that has assuaged some public anger was the establishment of "fast-track courts" for crimes of sexual violence. | Politicians have repeatedly floundered in their response to the crisis and cannot afford to find themselves on the wrong side of public opinion. One swiftly enacted measure that has assuaged some public anger was the establishment of "fast-track courts" for crimes of sexual violence. |
| One has been set up at a sprawling courthouse in the south Delhi neighbourhood of Saket. The hearing in court 207 was its first. | One has been set up at a sprawling courthouse in the south Delhi neighbourhood of Saket. The hearing in court 207 was its first. |
| At the Jantar Mantar observatory, the traditional site for protests in Delhi. Jitendra Singh, a 26-year-old working in a call centre, said he was there because he wanted to force politicians to make the city safe for women such as his sister. He called for a legal change to allow the supposed juvenile among the accused men to be hanged. "All six should die," he said. Many want executions to be public. | At the Jantar Mantar observatory, the traditional site for protests in Delhi. Jitendra Singh, a 26-year-old working in a call centre, said he was there because he wanted to force politicians to make the city safe for women such as his sister. He called for a legal change to allow the supposed juvenile among the accused men to be hanged. "All six should die," he said. Many want executions to be public. |
| Satya Prakash, who has been protesting for eight days, had no doubt what the case called for. The 80-year-old retired bureaucrat had a proposal for the authorities. January 26 is Republic Day, a holiday to commemorate the day the Indian constitution came into force. It is marked by street celebrations and a vast military parade in the capital. Prakash would like the date to be marked by another event, too. "They must be hanged then," he said. "That will mean real justice." | Satya Prakash, who has been protesting for eight days, had no doubt what the case called for. The 80-year-old retired bureaucrat had a proposal for the authorities. January 26 is Republic Day, a holiday to commemorate the day the Indian constitution came into force. It is marked by street celebrations and a vast military parade in the capital. Prakash would like the date to be marked by another event, too. "They must be hanged then," he said. "That will mean real justice." |
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